A Thousand Miles....
by attitudetwinz
Summary: What happens to Charlie when he leaves Boston for the band's tour? He hits the Big Apple and meets up with the outrageous Javajunkie. What happens on the road of a thousand miles?? Will love, drama, and crazy antics find the two bands??? Chapter Two out!!
1. Starbuck's Coffee and New Bands

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Charlie (or Chad Michael Murray, though I sure wished I did!! ^-^) or Jess (I can't spell his name at all sorry, but my friend wishes she can call him her own though!!). The wonderful people own them from the WB (the best network ever in my opinion) and themselves. If I happened to steal this from someone or a TV show, I'm sorry!! Don't sue me because I seriously don't have anything valuable. Unless you want Billy, my dumb computer that sucks big time, or my little brother Alex…which no one wants anyway!!! By the way, all the other characters are created by me so therefore are there to call my own._**

**_Author's Note: This story is a spin-off from when Charlie (from Dawson's Creek) left Boston to go on tour with his band and Jess (from Gilmore Girls) who left Stars Hallow for New York. This story basically centers on the girls and what happens to them during the tour they go along with Aggressive Mediocrity (for those who don't know, that's the band Charlie plays in). This is my first Dawson's Creek (I decided to put this story in only DC since Jess is only a minor character but I still love him so don't worry) fan-fiction, so please be nice when you review. Oh yeah, PUH-LEASE REVIEW!! I would really really appreciate it!!!! No flames please!!! ^-^_**

**Chapter One: Starbucks Coffee & New Bands**

**"Okay, I'll tell the rest of the girls tonight!! Bye, I love you too," the bubbly blonde whispered into the phone before she hang up. She got up from her safe haven of blankets on her bed and skipped out to the living room of the spacious loft she shared with her two best friends. Her friends were probably arguing over who left the coffee maker on overnight. Smiling to herself, she shook her head in disbelief on how silly her friends could be.**

**_The blonde's name was Angela (all her close friends called her Angie though) Rosenberg. She was tall, about five foot five, with a willowy figure. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back in a glowing waterfall. She had large sapphire blue eyes that held innocence and always had a smile on a face. She was the drummer of the band that she played in with her friends._**

**"I still think we should change the band's name to Javajunkies!!" the raven-haired beauty said loudly to her friend on the couch. Her friend was so disagreeable sometimes! But she still loved her anyway; they have been through a lot during their friendship. She watched the brunette next to her ponder over the name. **

**_The raven-haired beauty's name was Amara Pennington. She was about Angela's height give or take a few inches, actually Amara was five foot six with an athletic build. She had thick black hair that was cut into a short bob (sorta like Buffy's new hairdo) with blue tips. She had amethyst eyes that always held a bit of mystery in them and a knowing smirk on her face at all times. She was known as the electric guitarist of the band._**

**"Sure, what the hell! Why not, I'm sick of the name Love for Lust anyway!!" the brunette next to Amara said sarcastically, her friend sure was strange. Everyone knew of the band's coffee fetish, so why not go along with it and change the name to something coffee related? "Really??? Cool!!!!" Amara said excitedly as she danced around the living room.**

**_The brunette's name was Haley Murray. She was five foot five with a petite build. She looked like she took years of dance (which she did actually). Her thick brown hair was laced with honey brown highlights that fell a little past her shoulders in soft layers that surrounded her face. She had almond shaped hazel eyes that sparkled with life and always a sarcastic remark on her tongue. She was the main vocalist of the band and the bass guitarists_****.******

**"What's up people?? Are you two fighting again?" Angela said as she plopped down on the couch with them. She reached over them and grabbed the remote and turned the channel to Cartoon Network where Powerpuff Girls were showing. The two other girls glared at Angela for a few moments for changing the channel where they were happily watching a documentary on Starbuck's coffee. **

**"We were not fighting, we were simply arguing over what name we should call ourselves from now on that's all!" Haley said to Angela while trying to snatch the remote back from her. But to her dismay she couldn't, not without help from Amara. Angela had held on to the remote with all her strength as to not lose it to the coffee hungry girls she lived with.**

**"Yeah!!! We decided on the name Javajunkie!! Isn't that great? Speaking of coffee, I really need some right now don't you?" Amara piped up as she jumped up suddenly and ran to her room. She came rushing back out with her coat on and a pair of running shoes on her hand. "I'm gonna run down to Starbuck's, anyone wanna come with?"**

**"Sure!! I can't pass up a chance to get some of that coffee goodness!!!" Haley replied. She went to her room to grab her hoody and fix her hair and make up. She quickly ran a comb through her hair and pulled it up into a dancer's bun (a habit that was from her dancer years) and applied some mascara and lip-gloss. After grabbing her wallet she put on a pair of sneakers and was out the door of her room. "Angela, aren't you coming??? You know how much you love their chocolate chip cookies!! Wait, that was me…oh well!" Haley said as she passed Angela on her way to the door.**

**"Nah…I have to pick up Brent and the rest of his band at the airport soon remember???" Angela replied with a small smile. All her friends knew how much she loved her boyfriend Brent and how she was overjoyed that the band he played in agreed to tour with the band she was in with her friends. That meant she would get to see him everyday of the tour. "They're staying here for the night, is that okay with you girls?" Angela suddenly asked them before they went out the door.**

**"What??? Where are they going to sleep??? Obviously not with Haley or me!!! Right Haley?" Amara protested. She didn't like that idea of a bunch of hormone driven males in her home with her. Basically she didn't like the idea of touring with them period but she couldn't say no, it was the opportunity of a lifetime for her band mates and her. **

**"Yeah…I think. But really where are they going to sleep? Uh oh, Hayden might come over tonight!!! What is he going to think when we have all those guys here??" Haley said cautiously. Haley was thinking of ways to convince Angela not to let Brent and them stay when the door suddenly opened and Hayden entered through the door. "Hey Haley!" Hayden said brightly as he leaned down to kiss her softly before greeting the other girls, "I was going to invite you girls out to coffee! I found a real cool one down the block; they play live music and have the best lattes. I thought we could check it out. So how about it?" **

**_Hayden was Haley's best guy friend in high school until they decided to become girlfriend and boyfriend. Hayden is six foot four with a lean, athletic build and broad shoulders. He has sandy blonde, brownish hair that was sorta spiked up and crystal blue eyes that stared into her soul. He had a mysterious aura around him intrigues people. He's kinda soft-spoken and shy but confesses his true thoughts to only those that he is close to like Haley._**

**"Uhh…sorry, Hayden! I have to go pick up my boyfriend Brent and his band mates. They're gonna stay here for a few days at our place. Is that okay with you?" Angela replied. She wasn't going to pass up quality time with her boyfriend just because one of her friends was afraid of ruining her relationship with her boyfriend.**

**Hayden looking amused, "Sure, as long as none of your boyfriend's friends pull a move on any of you I'm fine with it. I trust Haley," Hayden replied while wrapping his arm around Haley's waist. Amara who was looking impatient pulled at his jacket and said, "Come on!!! Some of us do want to go check out that coffee place!! Please, I need some caffeine in me!!!" Laughing, Hayden reluctantly let go of Haley and pulled her toward the door with Amara leading the way. "Bye Angela!!" the three chorused as they closed the door behind them.**

**Amara happily skipped down the stairs of the apartment complex with Haley and Hayden close behind her. "Come on you two!! There is no time for frolicking!!! This is a matter of life and death to me!!!" Amara shouted at them when she reached the bottom floor. The other two came scampering down as fast as they could with a whole lot of noise. **

**"So, you girls want to walk there and enjoy the fresh air? Or ride leisurely in my Lexus??" Hayden asked when they hit the pavement. Immediately the girls headed down toward his car, knowing they would get there faster in the car then on foot. "Why am I not surprised that you would want to get there as fast as you can?" he asked with a grin as he opened the door for them.**

**"Put the metal to the pedal Hayden!!! I need coffee and fast! Comprehende?" Haley (who was in the front seat) said to Hayden. She loved how he always took into consideration to include her friends whenever possible and how much he trusted her. "Haley, your staring at him again…Honestly, I still wonder why you didn't just get hitched with the guy. You guys are sooo obviously in love with each other!!" Amara said with a smirk. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever look at a guy like the way Haley did to Hayden.**

**After a few minutes of driving and fighting over why Britney Spears was so overrated the Lexus pulled up in front of a quaint coffeehouse. Amara leaped out of the car and breathed in the heavenly scent of the coffee beans. "Ahhh……I can stand here and breathe this all day!!" Amara said happily as she linked arms with both Hayden and Haley and tugged them to the entrance of the store. **

**"Sorry to break it to you, but obviously you are soo deprived of coffee that you can't tell the difference between the smell of coffee or the smell of sewage," Haley said with a giggle as she pointed to the open sewage hole a few yards away. "Ewwww…I must be then huh?" Amara said sheepishly. She still ushered them into the store though.**

**The coffeehouse had a cheerful staff that looked up when the little bell on the door chimed and they all smiled at the three people. "Creepy…" Amara whispered to Haley. The three sat in a booth and waited for the waitress to arrive to receive their order. "Ohmigosh!!! They sell double chocolate coffee brownies here!!! Way too cool! We should really get some!" Haley said excitedly. When it came to her and chocolate and coffee…well let's just say she gets real excited.**

**"What am I going to do with you??" Hayden said smiling as he looked over at the ecstatic girl sitting next to him. "Absolutely everything possible to keep me!!" was her reply as she smiled up at him. This was Haley, she made everyday brighter for him. He wouldn't know what to do if she wasn't his to protect and love.**

**"Okay….you two are officially disgusting!!! Some of us don't like to be reminded about how single we are!!! God, and I just realized Angela and Brent would probably act like that at home too!! What's a girl to do?" Amara complained. Before she could continue one with her rant, the waitress came up to get their order.**

**"Good afternoon, my name is Wendy. What I can I get you three?" the waitress said with a friendly tone as she bent down to hear their order better. While they were ordering, Haley couldn't help but notice that the waitress kept on eyeing Hayden like a piece of meat.**

**"I think she's got the hots for you Hayden," Haley said as she took off her jacket and placed it on the back of her chair. Haley knew that other girls would look at Hayden, he wasn't that bad to look at!!!! When all her friends first met him, they all developed a little crush on him! "I see I have some competition!!!" Haley said with a laugh.**

**"What?? She was not checking me out!! I would have known it!" Hayden protested with mock horror. He playfully tickled her causing her to giggle madly. "You two, we are in public here. Try to keep this PG-13 please!!!" Amara hissed in mock anger as she laughed along with the other two. The three continued to joke and laugh until there orders came for the next fifteen minutes.**

**"Okay, major question of the day: Who invented coffee???" Haley asked her friends at her table. She bit into her triple chocolate fudge cake with coffee frosting. "Hmmm……this cake is really really good, you should try it Hayden!" she said as she offered a tasty bite of the morsel to her boyfriend next to her. Sneakily, Amara snatched the bite and stuffed it into her own mouth.**

**"Yummy, you are soo right Haley. This cake is delicious!" Amara said happily as she chewed the cake and washed it down with her latte. Haley glared at her friend and took a bite of her cake with a huff. "Hey, it's okay! I bet that cake would have killed me anyway. Way too much caffeine for this man!" Hayden said to Haley. Haley just shrugged and took a long sip from her cocoa caramel Milky Way. **

**"I think we should get back don't you two?" Hayden asked when they were almost finished. He took out his wallet and threw down some bills while the girls went to the bathroom to freshen up themselves. Hayden walked over to the counter and ordered two iced mochas to go for a special treat for the girls while he waited for them to get back. "Those girls must really really like coffee or something!!' the waitress said as she filled the order. "You better believe it, I think they worship it!" was his reply as he watched the two girls he was with return.**

**"OoOoOoOoOoOoO!!!!!!!!! You bought us more coffee!!!!!! You know if you weren't Haley's boyfriend I would have kissed you right now!" Amara said when she saw him carrying the heavenly drink. "Don't worry, I'll reward him for the both of us!! Thanks soo much Hayden!" Haley said as she took the cup from him and jumped up to gently kiss him softly on the lips. Hayden started to deepen the kiss but she pulled away before it got out of hand. "Hey! That was cruel and unusual punishment!!" Hayden protested as he opened the door of the coffeehouse for them and the door to his car for them. "Well, you only bought as one coffee. You need like four to make her really appreciative" Amara said matter-of-factly. **

** They drove quite calmly back to the girls loft apartment. That was probably because the girls were drinking their coffees happily while Hayden was just enjoying the peace. "Home again! Home again!!" Amara burst out when they pulled up in front of the apartment building. She jumped out of the car and impatiently waited for the other two to get out. "Come on folks!! This chick has no time for lollygagging!!!" she sang happily as she raced up the stairs. "Why am I so happy you don't act like that when you drink coffee?" Hayden asked Haley as she grabbed the mail before going up the stairs. "Because you know I have been drinking coffee since I was like three and I have grown immune to the stuff. Her body hasn't gotten used to it yet. Also because I already act like that when I don't have coffee," Haley said with a grin as she ran up the stairs after Amara leaving Hayden in the dust.**

** They finally reached the door to the apartment after a few seconds on the stairs and few yells from the other people who lived in the complex. "Okay……Haley behave yourself okay? Play nice with the other kids!" Hayden said jokingly as he pushed the door open. "Oh, shut up Hayden!" Haley replied as she walked in to door. There was a small group of rock star looking men in the living room laughing and joking along with what seemed to be Brent. They all looked over at the couple standing near the door with bemused expressions. **

** "Uhh…I think I should go find the girls!!" Haley said quickly as she glanced at the young men who were all giving her appreciative glances. Especially a certain blonde one who was smirking like a Cheshire cat about to go after his prey. She quickly ran to Angela's room hoping to find Angela and Amara in there. The two other girls were indeed in there. "Uhh…their kinda scaring me," was all Haley could say as she entered the room.**

** "Yeah, don't worry! They eyed me too when I came in the door. Angela wanted me to help her pick out an outfit for dinner. Brent wanted to go out for dinner tonight or something," Amara said quietly. She handed a dark blue strapless dress to Angela who was in her closet trying on clothes that she picked out before Amara came in. "Oww……okay, you two need to get out of my room. I can't change with you two in here!!!" Angela complained after she hit her head on a hanger. **

** "Hey, we're all girls in here!!! No shame in your body!! Unless you have like an extra arm or something!" Haley sing-songed out as she dragged Amara out the door of Angela's room. "Oh yeah, you girls are going too! So dress nicely!" Angela shouted after them when they closed the door. The two girls outside of the room groaned loudly and headed to their respective rooms to dress for dinner. "You know how much we hate dressing up!!" they both said in unison.**

** Amara stood in front of her closet trying to find something nice to wear to dinner without having to wear a dress. 'This is hard,' she thought to herself as she selected a few items of clothing. She had laid out a pair of black capris that laced up at the calves and a sparkly black one-shoulder top on her bed with a pair of strappy black sandals. 'Ewww…….I have no clue why I'm dressing up for those guys out there,' she thought with disgust but decided to dress anyway. She quickly combed her hair and applied some lip-gloss and curled her eyelashes.**

** Haley quietly tiptoed to her room since she had to go across the living room and didn't want to attract attention from the guys. "Hey!!! Haley right???" a voice said from behind her before she could even open the door of her room. 'Damn. Caught red handed!' she cursed to herself as she turned around and plastered a smile on her face. "Hmm?? Are you Brent?" Haley said as she faced the young man behind her. "You got that right! Come on, I want you to meet my friends. We're gonna have to spend a lot of time together for the tour so we might as well get acquainted right?" Brent said with a grin as he led her to the couch with the blonde who was staring at her a few moments ago. "Uhh…I kind of have to go get dressed for dinner. I'm sure we can chit-chat later on!" Haley said quickly as she tried to go to her room. **

** "Nu uh!!! We're not letting you get away, Angela and that other girl kept on avoiding us like the plague!" Brent said as he pulled her back toward the couch, "Plus, the rest of the guys don't bite, much. Well, I don't know about Charlie…" Haley reluctantly sat down on the couch cautiously. "By the way, your boyfriend had to leave. He had to study for some exam tomorrow or something," one of the guys said. "Oh……okay," Haley mumbled. She didn't like this at all, not at all. "Hi, I'm Charlie Todd! And your name is?" the blonde finally said to her. "Uhh…hi. My name is Haley Murray. Nice to meet you," Haley quickly replied. "No, the pleasure is all mine," he replied all too smoothly. Haley didn't like the way he was looking at her; he was like undressing her with his eyes. She avoided his eyes as much as possible.**

** "Hey, Haley! Can you help me put this on?" Amara said while she walked out of her room with a necklace in her hand, "Oops, I didn't know you were busy." Amara glanced around sheepishly as a she walked backward to her room. "Oww…you can watch where you're going you know!" said a dark-haired stranger with a Metallica T-shirt and a pair of torn jeans. "Sorry…sheesh, maybe you should be watching where you're going then?" Amara said sarcastically. "Whatever, need help putting that on?" was his reply as he picked up her necklace that she dropped. It was a slim silver chain with a silver cross pendant. It was a gift from Amara's boyfriend before he died in a tragic car crash a few years back. **

** "Thanks…I think," Amara said nervously. She turned around and let him put his arm around her to slip on the necklace. He gently clasped it closed and paused a few minutes before letting go and walking off to sit on the couch. "Sooo…why don't you guys go talk to Amara over there while I go get changed so we can go to dinner okay?" Haley piped up after a few moments of silence as the rest of the guys watched Amara stare after the dark-haired young man. "Huh? Oh, sure. Why not, I'm all ready anyway," Amara replied suddenly as if she zoned back to earth.**

** "Good, now I want to introduce you to Jess Mariano over there. He's our new drum player!!!" Brent said happily as Amara sat down and Haley made her escape. "Ahhh…hi, I guess. My name is Amara Pennington," Amara said with a glare at him. "We already met, remember? You walked into me a few minutes ago," Jess said with a bored tone of voice. Amara knew immediately she would not, and I repeat would not get along with that boy. 'He's too indifferent, its like he doesn't even care,' she thought to herself as she glanced his way for a moment, 'But he ain't bad too look at though!'**

** Haley rummaged through her closet like a mad woman. 'Arrrggghh, this is bad! All of my good clothes are too sexy right now!! I don't want to look like I'm trying to get attention,' she thought to herself. She threw down her fifth dress in disgust. 'Way too many anniversary dates with Hayden!!! What am I going to do?' she thought. Finally she spotted a new dress that she bought a few days ago at Charlotte Russe. Quickly she slipped on the chiffony lavender dress. It came down to just below her knees and had thin straps with a ruffly edge at the hem of the dress. She chose a pair of matching platform strappy sandals to go with the outfit. She quickly brushed her hair out until it curled delicately around her face. After putting on a few coats of mascara and smoothing on some lip-gloss she put shimmer powder all over her shoulder blades and cheeks. After a few mists of Clinique Happy she was all ready for dinner.**

** "Haley??? Hurry up and get out!!!! I am going crazy out here!! I need coffee sooo badly! Wahh…" Amara said when Haley came out of her room. Every guy except for Brent and the dark-haired one looked up as she walked in the living room. "Wow, trying to impress someone??" Charlie said as he got up to offer her his seat. "Whose to impress?" Haley said snidely back as she daintily sat down in his seat. "Well, I see your boyfriend isn't here to compliment you on how gorgeous you look. So I will," Charlie said as he gazed at her with his dark blue eyes. "I'm sure other girls with intelligence levels much lower than a brick's would appreciate that compliment. But thankfully, I'm not one of those girls," Haley said sarcastically as she glared at him.**

** "Aww, why the long faces girls?? Come on!!!! It's time to go out and have fun!!" Angela said as she sauntered out of her room. She was wearing a dark sea-green strapless dress that shimmered when she walked with a pair of cute sandals. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant French knot and she had a hint of make up on her. The color of her dress made her eyes look more blue-green than the usual blue color. "Well, let's see…while you were getting ready both of us had to deal with a bunch of guys and there overactive hormones!!" Haley said sweetly with a fake smile.**

** "Haha, real funny. They know they had fun!!" Brent said as he got up to give Angela a quick kiss that took a bit too long. "Ahem, there are some people here who are a bit too young for this kind of affection!" Amara said as she deliberately pointed at Jess as an example. "Amara!!! Come on, I'm hungry!! And I'm not happy about wearing this dress!" Haley said as she giggled at what Amara said. "Oh I'm sure, you'll still look good in a bath towel. Better yet, why don't you change into one right now?" Charlie said suggestively. "Shut up bucko. I may be wearing a dress but that doesn't mean I won't kick you where you deserve to be kicked right now!" Haley said huffily to him as she brushed past him. **

**_Brent is Angela's boyfriend as you can probably tell by now. He is the lead vocalist of Aggressive Mediocrity (sound familiar???) and doesn't play an instrument in the band. He has blonde hair that falls into his eyes in a really cute way. He has blue-green eyes that always have a glint of mischief in them. He also has the most amazing smile ever. It makes you want to smile back at him. He is really outgoing and caring, some might say that he flirts a lot but really he is just really really friendly._**

**"Why can't we all just get along?" Amara said with a grin. Jess just looked at her like she was wacko. "What are you looking at? All you do is stare at me like I'm an idiot!!" Amara said finally noticing him staring at her. "You called yourself an idiot, I didn't," Jess mumbled. Amara groaned out loud and stalked over to fetch her dress coat from the hall closet. Everyone else followed suit afterwards.**

** They filed down the stairs in a quiet line…well except for Angela and Brent. They were whispering sweet nothings to each other. "Ewwww…I am soo glad you and Hayden do not act like that in public, Haley," Amara whispered to Haley as she glanced over to Angela and Brent. "Well maybe that's because we know you are a little too immature for what we really do…" Haley said pointedly to Amara. Amara thought about that for a minute. She knew she used to act exactly like Angela did with Brent back when…back when Eli was still alive. 'He's gone now Amara, get on with your life!' she thought quickly to herself before any tears came to her eyes. Didn't want any of her friends to know she was still upset about the whole ordeal. **

** The group all circled around the two cars that the girls owned. They owned a black Escalade and a silver Audi Jetta. "Okay, we can only fit five people in the Escalade comfortably, two of us is gonna have to take the Audi. Who volunteers??? One of us girls has to drive the Audi and the Escalade. Sorry guys, we don't like you that much!" Angela said cheerily. The three girls looked at each other and the four guys cautiously. "I'll take the Audi!!!! I haven't driven that thing in like forever!!!!!!" Amara volunteered, she hoped that she didn't get paired up with that Jess character or the blonde that kept on hitting on Haley. "Okay, hey Jess why don't you go with her?? You never got to talk to her about what you little electric guitarist types talk about!!" Brent said with an evil glint in his eye. "Whatever, I don't care really," Jess said in a low tone as he climbed in the passenger seat next to Amara.**

** The rest of the gang piled into the Escalade with Brent at the wheel. "Are you sure your boyfriend is a good driver Angela?? Haley added uncertainly. She was incredibly uncomfortable, with Charlie next to her and all. He kept on glancing at her and smirking like he knew something she didn't. It was literally driving her crazy. "Well, he's a good driver to me!!! Plus, you don't want me to drive do you?" Angela said noticing her friend's predicament. Haley never acted like this when it came guys back in high school. 'He must have gotten under her skin or something…let's hope that Hayden doesn't find out about Charlie and how uncomfortable he makes her feel!' Angela thought to herself, 'I wonder how Amara is doing?'**

** "Sooo…what kind of music do you listen to Jess?" Amara asked Jess, trying hard to make small talk. He was soo inclusive, it was hard not to feel like he didn't care who you were, and he still didn't like you. "Rock, basically hard rock. I don't like the new rock groups they seem like they are manufactured and fake. I especially do not like Linkin Park, they are too modern and stuff," was Jess's reply as he fiddled with the radio. "What?????????? OHMYGOSH!!! You can't dislike them!!! They are one of my favorite bands!!!" Amara said with an astonished voice. She has never met a guy that didn't like them…. Jess must have been insane or something. "What? And you do? Why do you care soo much? It's my opinion," Jess said with a roll of his eyes. "I was just surprised…that's all. I happen to like rock too for you information!! I'm not one of those types that just listen to music that everyone else is listening to you know," Amara said quietly. She was annoyed beyond reason. She was beginning to think up death wishes for him. **

** "Oh, I'm sorry if I was harsh then. I just don't like people judging me by the things like. Back in the town I lived in they did that. I am soo happy to be far away from that hellhole though. I do miss one thing about that place though…" Jess said as his voice drifted off. He started to look out the window again. He was ignoring her again, but she knew he could open up. 'Maybe we will get along better if we agree on something,' she thought to herself as she continued to drive. "How'd you get to be in Brent's band anyway? I knew for a fact you weren't their electric guitarist before," Amara said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "Uhh…well the last guy kinda got sent to some rehab thing in California so they needed a guy to do the tour with them. I happened to be friends with Travis, the drummer, back in junior high so we decided to meet up again to see if I wanted to join in and stuff," Jess replied quickly. "Oh," was all Amara could say.**

** "By the way, why did you leave that town you were talking about anyway?" Amara asked suddenly as they drove up to the restaurant. "What is with all these questions? I'm not up for Twenty Questions you know," Jess said with an exasperated tone of voice. He got out of the car as fast as he could. He didn't like being asked soo many questions. That's what happened to him back in Stars Hollow and he didn't want that to happen again. It hurt too much to know that Rory probably hated right now for ruining her relationship with Dean. She probably forgot about him by now anyway. 'Hahaha, I bet Lorelai didn't forget me. I was the one to lead her perfect little daughter away from her!' Jess thought bitterly to himself. 'It was time to move on anyway,' he thought as he looked at Amara who was standing five feet away with her hands at her hips in an irritated way. But for some reason she reminded him of Rory for some reason. He just couldn't bear it, but yet he couldn't help opening up to her. **

** The other car was total chaos; Haley had gotten stuck in the middle of two extremely jerky guys. She had gotten stuck sitting next to Charlie and the no-name drummer (actually his name is Travis, but I really didn't know how in incorporate him into the plot). Charlie kept on breathing down her neck and Travis was just plain perverted and annoying. He kept on asking her if what her bra size was. "Can you stop doing that breathing thing? It is getting annoying!!!" Haley said as she scooted as far away from him but then realized that she would be near Travis who was worse. Travis was still staring at her in an inappropriate way that got her even more uncomfortable. "What breathing thing??? Am I making you nervous??" Charlie whispered into her ear while softly blowing into it. Haley squirmed at how close he was.**

** "Is Charlie bothering you? Because I can make him leave you alone, but for a price of course," Travis said slyly to Haley. Haley looked at Travis in disgust. 'Ewww…freak. I bet he couldn't get a girl even if he was a perfect gentleman!' she thought to herself. "No thanks, I'm sure I can take care of myself. Plus, he isn't bothering me, its you that is bothering me. So why don't you go walk off the face of the Earth and spare the rest of us okay?" Haley said to him with a smug smile. "Ouch, she really told you Travis!! I didn't know you cared for me Haley!!! Why don't you just admit you like me and dumb that loser of a boyfriend of yours for me?" Charlie said. Haley found it was not worth responding to him for his comment. He knew perfectly well he could never get her to like him. **

**_Okay, for all you curious people out there I'll tell you what Travis looks like. Travis has short, messy, brown hair that's sort of floppy. He has light brown eyes and an easy smile. He is sort of cute, in a boyish way. He is tall and lanky and always looks like he just rolled out of bed with his clothes on. He is always hitting on girl with the worst pick up lines in the world. And he is extremely perverted._**

**The Escalade had finally pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant after what seemed to be thirty hours of pure torture for Haley. Brent indeed was a safe driver, so safe that he only drove like ten miles per hour for the whole car ride. "Sheesh Brent, could you drive any slower?" Charlie said as he got out of the car. He then reached his hand in to help Haley out. "Thanks, I think," said Haley appreciatively. She was grateful because her dress was kind of hard to get up from with out exposing something that she didn't want to expose. "Your welcome, well let's go in. I'm getting hungry," Charlie said as he offered his arm to her as if he was her escort. They walked by Amara and Jess who were having a heated conversation in the parking lot. Amara glanced there way with a raised eyebrow. Haley just looked away and avoided Amara and Jess's gaze. "Why are you being so nice to me??? It's scaring me, your type usually have a motive for everything they do," Haley said suspiciously. Haley knew those types quite well, that was why she was soo reluctant in going out with Hayden back in high school even though he was one of her best friends. All the guys in her school were known for there inability to commit. She refused every date offered to her from her male classmates.**

** The restaurant was a cozy little Italian place with candles and flowers at every table. The group was led to a table next to the picture window; which showed scene of the lake next to the restaurant. "Wow, classy…." Amara whispered out loud to no one in particular. They sat down in this order: Charlie, Haley, Amara, Jess, Angela, Brent, and Travis. Haley was mortified at her unbelievable bad luck. 'It couldn't get any worse than this right?' she thought to herself as she seated herself next to him cautiously. "Can get enough of me Haley???" Charlie said with a smirk. He playfully pulled at a strand of her hair while he smiled sweetly at her. "Hey, bucko!!! Haley here has a boyfriend!! Get it?? BOYFRIEND!!! Like in one; which she sees exclusively!!" Amara said as she noticed Charlie clearly hit on her friend. "You act like it's a crime for him to be attracted to her or something, she's not that bad too look at you know!" Jess said bluntly as he reached for a menu from the waiter. "Well he really shouldn't have been hitting on her like that, he knew full well she has a boyfriend!" Amara said defiantly.**

** After they had all eaten their respectful dinners and desserts (the girls all wanted some of the double double chocolate fudge cake with a cup of coffee) the musical entertainment started to play. There was a five-part jazz band playing there that night. "Amara? Will you have this dance with me???" someone said from behind her where she was watching Angela and Brent do a weird kind of waltz together. "Uhh, sure…I guess," she replied without even looking at the person. **

** "Care to have this dance with me??" Charlie asked Haley who was sitting at the table by herself sipping at her iced tea. Haley looked up at him and nodded slowly, she knew she would regret this but she could resist not getting into the magic of the evening like all her friends. Angela was dancing with Brent in a private corner while Amara was dancing with somebody who no one could quite make out, and Jess was nowhere to be found. "I knew you couldn't get your hands on me!!! Why don't we just both give in to the temptations??" Charlie said into her ear in a husky whisper. Haley shivered and tried to pull away but he just pulled her closer. She saw little old ladies smile and point at them probably saying what an adorable couple they made together. **

**"Angela, you don't mind if the guys and I crash at your place with your friends for a few days before the tour do you? The apartment we were supposed to be renting got mysteriously sold to an old couple and we kinda need a place to stay," Brent asked Angela while they were dancing. Angela was giggly at who Amara was dancing with and totally not paying any attention to what he was saying. "Huh?? I'm not quite sure about that. The girls are apprehensive about the guys. Especially Haley since she has a boyfriend and all. And well Amara just doesn't like her privacy being invaded by a bunch of guys," Angela said finally to Brent. Brent looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking, "Oh, it doesn't hurt to ask them does it?? I mean we'll behave!!! Plus, we might as well get used to each other anyway, we'll be spending the next month or so on tour together remember?" Angela sighed and continued to dance with him. "Yeah, I guess it doesn't hurt. I'll ask them tonight okay? You have to make the guys promise to behave or it's the streets for you!!" Angela said finally as the song ended. "Oooo, I like it when you get all dominant and tough!!!! Sure, I'll try to make them behave but that doesn't mean they will actually listen to me. Especially Jess, he doesn't listen to most of us anyway. You won't throw me out to the street will you?? I mean I love you!!! You can't do that to your boyfriend," Brent said with a grin. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you get to act like a arrogant moron!" Angela said with mock annoyance.**

** "Sooo, did you know that I find you incredibly attractive tonight???" the person Amara was dancing with said to her. "What?? No I didn't and frankly I don't really care," Amara replied as she twirled around trying to find Jess. 'Where did he go off too??' she thought with wonder. "You know you are being awfully rude to me. I asked you to dance and all. But don't worry sweetheart, I know just how you can make up for it," Travis, who was the person that asked her to dance in the first place, said while letting his hand casually slip downward to her butt. Amara jumped at the touch of his hand near her butt and stopped dancing with him. "You bastard!!!! Like I would even do anything for you!" Amara said angrily. She stepped back and punched him squarely in the nose. "Oww, you bitch. Don't do that ever again or you will regret it!!" Travis said as he grabbed his nose; which had started to bleed. "Oh you better believe that I am a bitch!!! And don't you forget it!!" Amara said as she kicked him in the balls and sauntered off with a satisfied expression on her face. **

** "Heard the commotion in there. What happened??? Did one of your friends break a nail??" Jess said sarcastically as he stepped out from a shadow on the wall. Amara looked up at him curiously and grimaced at what she did to the poor guy inside. "You heard from all the way out here??? Angela broke her nail and she got real emotional and punched out this guy next to her," Amara said playing along with the story. "Figures, all girls get emotional when that happens. You probably do too don't you?" Jess said as he moved to stand next to her. Amara could feel the electricity in the air, as he got closer to her. She could feel the fabric of his coat against her bare arm. "Yeah right," she said with sarcasm dripping from her voice, "Actually I don't for you information. I don't have any nails to break." She showed him her hand as proof she didn't have any nails to break. "So I bet that no one broke a nail did they in there? I heard a guy curse and someone get hit," Jess said thoughtfully. "No…Travis hit on me and I knocked him out. He got what he deserved though. Oh yeah, I also uhh…kicked him in the balls." Amara said sheepishly. **

** Inside, everyone was crowding around Travis who was rolling around on the floor in pain. "Owwww!!! That little bitch!!!! God, no wonder she doesn't have a boyfriend, who would want to date a bitch like that??" Travis moaned to no one in particular because everyone had scattered away from him. "Hahaha, someone had to put him in his place. I'm just sad it wasn't me," Charlie snickered to Haley. Haley was just staring at the figure that was still rolling around on the floor. "Yeah, but then again I'm sure Travis wouldn't hit on a guy," Haley said with a smirk. "You think so? Even one as gorgeous as me?" Charlie replied with a grin. "Men and their egos. Sheesh, if I didn't know better it's probably because their equipment is so small and all!!" Haley said with a roll of her eyes. "Oh really? Well, want to find out??" Charlie said seductively to her. "Thanks, but no thanks!! Some of us want to have nice dreams tonight, not nightmares," Haley responded to him.**

** "Hey guys!!! Brent and I are getting tired and we thought it would be a good idea to turn in now. Is that okay with you two?" Angela said as she came up to the table that Charlie and Haley were sitting in. "Sure, but we have to find Amara and Jess first. And what about Travis over there?" Charlie said stating the obvious. "Uhh…he can sit with you boys while I drive back with Angela in the front with me," Haley said calmly. She still couldn't help giggle at what happened to Travis though. "Good plan, Haley!" Angela said brightly. The two girls walked out of the room followed by Charlie and Brent who were shouldering Travis who was still in pain. "I must have busted him up pretty good huh?" Amara said happily as she joined the girls with Jess at her side. "Sure did, he was rolling around on the floor and everything!!" Haley said in a fit of girlish giggles. "Looks like I missed quite a show," Jess said to Amara. "Yeah, I guess so!!" Amara replied to him.**

** Amara and Jess parted with the rest of the group and walked over to the Audi Jetta while the rest of the gang walked to the Escalade. "Think he'll be okay???" Amara asked Jess as she slid into the driver's seat. "Yeah, it hasn't happened before for him, I'm sure. But you sure did make him bleed a lot though," Jess replied while fidgeting with the radio yet again. He finally settled on a soft rock station before turning to look at Amara with a serious expression. "Yeah, I guess I did. Why are you looking at me like that???" Amara said with a nervous laugh. "I just wanted to tell you that what you did today really got me to think of you in a different manner that's all," Jess said as he turned to face the window beside him. 'Rory, would've never done that. But yet again she probably would have reacted the same way,' he thought to himself. "Oh, okay…I guess," Amara said with a puzzled expression as she continued to drive down the street.**

** "Soooo, that was a nice restaurant wasn't it??" Angela asked everyone in the car who was listening to her. "Yeah, I guess it was. It sure had nice entertainment, and I don't mean in the musical department," Charlie replied to her while glancing at Travis, who was still moaning and groaning, in a comical way. "It was like we were part of a bad Jerry Springer show," Haley said sarcastically but she still smiled at Charlie's comment anyway. "Uugghhh, I think I need to see a doctor!!!" Travis moaned from the back seat. "Man, shut up!!!! You are acting like a huge drama queen," Brent said irritated. Everyone in the car except for Travis laughed at Brent's comment. "Yeah, Travis. Keep this up and you might never get a girl ever again in your life," Charlie said. "Like he could before!!" Haley retorted with a grunt of annoyance. She hated it when guys referred to girls as something they can just obtain. Girls were human beings too just like they were.**

** The two cars pulled into the apartment parking lot about the same time. "Soo, I'm guessing we need to discuss sleeping and bathroom arrangements," Angela said chirpily the whole group which had gathered around the door of the girl's loft apartment. "Okay, we have one guest bedroom and a very comfortable couch. Plus a wonderfully carpeted floor!!!!! You guys can all share the guest bathroom," Haley said after a few moments of pondering. "You guys should figure this out on your own," Angela said as she unlocked the door to the apartment and walked to her room. The two other girls decided to head to the kitchen to make what else but coffee for themselves.**

** "I'll take the couch," Jess said finally to the rest of the guys who were watching American Pie on TV. "Yeah, okay. That leaves the guest bed, the guest floor, and the floor here for the rest of us," Brent said sarcastically as he gestured to the floor. "Hiya guys!!! Scoot over please??? I wanna sit and watch too!!" Haley said in a kiddie tone to Jess and Charlie who were occupying the couch. The two males obliged and she sat down with a cup of coffee in her hands. "How can you two girls do that without spilling a drop of coffee?" Brent asked with laughter in his eyes. "Easy, we know not to waste perfectly good coffee," Amara replied while she pushed Jess out of her way so she could sit on the couch. "I really think I should take the guest bed, I mean in my condition and all," Travis said suddenly from the floor. "Nah, you should stay on the floor where you belong. You can sleep on the floor here," Amara said with a dictating tone. She threatened him with one of her infamous glares and he looked away from her gaze. "Hahaha, I guess that leaves me to bunk with Brent huh?" Charlie said with a smirk as he glanced over at Haley who had the unfortunate luck of having her bedroom next to the guest bedroom. "Yeah, let's flip for the bed Charlie," Brent said as he pulled out a quarter from his pocket. "Tails," Charlie called out as Brent flipped the coin. "Damn, you always get it right!!!" Brent said with a laugh. The group then decided to follow Angela's example; who had already went to bed, and turn in for the night.**


	2. Smack Dab in the Middle

_Disclaimer: Why do we always have to do these dumb things??? I mean I think most get the picture that we are all flat broke. We'll at least I am, I don't know about you guys out there. I do not own Chad Michael Murray or the character he plays or anything related to the Dawson's Creek plot. I also don't own Jess or the guy who plays him (I can't spell his name too hard…) or anything from Gilmore Girls. I just love those two shows. And oh yeah, I don't own Hayden Christensen (in case you wondered who was Hayden…lol) although I sure wish I did. They all own themselves. I also don't own Sailor Moon. I think y'all get the picture that I don't own anything!!!!!!!!!!! Except maybe some lint in my pants pocket. You can have that if you want it…anyway…enough blabbering. I have to go do the author's note where I am obliged to blabber on and on and on. Hehehehe. _

_Author's Note: Y'all must hate me right now. You are probably going "When will this girl shut up?? I wanna read the story!!!" LOL I just wanted to you wonderful folks about the title and Sailor Moon. The title of this chapter is a quote from the Nabisco commercial, you figure out which one. I don't wanna explain the whole thing. And Sailor Moon is well because I thought it would be funny to have a grocery store with an owner that was obsessed with Sailor Moon. Okay, I'll shut up now. Go on and read the chapter…oh yeah don't forget to review!!!!!!!!!!!_

Chapter Two: Smack Dab In The Middle!!!!

"Mmmm, what's that delicious smell????" Amara said sleepily into her pillow. The heavenly scent hung over her head like a mist. "COFFEE!!!! Some angel sent from Java Heaven came bearing gifts!!!" she said out loud with a squeal of delight. She jumped out of bed and was about to run out the door when she realized that she would have to cover up. 'Don't want any of those perverts to get any ideas,' she thought as she slipped on a black silk robe with a silver dragon on the back over her gray tank top with a superman emblem in the center and her low-slung red sweats. She hastily pulled her messy bed head with a black bandanna and skipped out the door.

"I'm guessing I just figured out the key to your heart now?" Jess said as he poured Amara a large mug of the hot liquid. He could see her eyes shine brighter as he handed her the mug. "Thanks!!! You are the god of all things good!!! If I wasn't drinking this right now, I'll kiss you right now," Amara said cheerily as she downed the mug in one gulp. "Let's save that for later shall we?? You kinda have bad breath right now!!!" Jess said with a grimace. Amara just glared at him and grabbed for the coffee pot. Jess swiftly pulled it away from her grasp causing her to fall into him. "Oooof that hurt. You didn't have to do that you know!!" Amara said as she pushed herself off him and brushed herself off.

"Am I interrupting something? 'Cause I can leave if you want me too," Brent said as he sleepily walked to a cabinet and grabbed a mug and the coffee pot. "You want some more Amara?" Brent said with a raised eyebrow at how she was staring at the pot of coffee. "Yup!!!!" Amara said happily as she thrust her mug in his face. "Eager isn't she??? I think you can use her love for coffee to your advantage Jess," Brent said to Jess with a smirk. "Excuse me??? I'm standing right here!!!" Amara scoffed as she stomped back to her room to get ready for the day. "What's with her?" Brent asked Jess with a puzzled expression. "Who knows?? Women are strange, one day there all happy the next all mad and shit," Jess replied.

"Wake up Sleeping Beauty," a male voice whispered into Haley's ear in a warm, husky tone. Haley turned over to face where the voice was coming from and slowly opened her eyes to reveal a set of dark blue eyes that looked unfamiliar to her. "Ahhhhhh, why are you in my bed???? With me for that matter????" Haley said as she jumped up and grabbed her blanket to cover herself up. "Hahaha, don't you remember Sweetums??? What we did last night???" Charlie said with a grin as he got up from where he was lying. "What??? We didn't you know did we?" Haley said in a panicky voice. She scrambled around and tried to get out of bed but was pulled back by Charlie. "Relax, I sneaked in to scare you. Turns out I did a pretty good job didn't I?" Charlie said with a smug smile, "You really should start locking your doors. Who knows who can get in??? Next time you won't see my face next to yours in the morning!!!" Charlie got up from the bed and laid a lingering look at Haley before exiting the room.  
       "Arrgghh, I can't stand that guy!" Haley said with frustration as she threw her blankets off her and leaped out of bed. She walked to the door and quickly locked it before heading into her bathroom to take a quick shower and wash her hair. After a few minutes of primping in the bathroom, Haley emerged fresh and rejuvenated. She had also quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face while in the bathroom as well as blow-dry her hair. 'Hmm, what should I wear today??' she though to herself while she flipped through the contents of her walk in closet. She finally selected a pair of low-rider jeans and a cute baby t-shirt that was pale pink and had cute little angels in the center. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and applied on some light make-up so she wouldn't look like she just woke up. After checking her appearance she slipped on a pair of matching pink flip-flops and walked out the door of her room.  
    "I heard you had a rather fun night with Charlie over there," Amara said with her trademark smirk. "Whatever, think what you want. Is that coffee I smell??" Haley said in a tired tone but soon perked up when she smelled the coffee brewing. She half walked half skipped over to the kitchen where Jess was slaving over a hot stove. "I'm assuming you want some coffee right?" Jess said grumpily as he filled a mug full of coffee and slide it over the counter top to her. "Thanks, watcha making???" Haley said as she slowly sipped her coffee. "Omelets, want one?" Jess answered while expertly flipping the omelet on a plate and handing it to the eager hands of Amara's. "Yummy!! Of course I want one!!!" Haley said happily. "With everything in it??" Jess asked as he glanced over in her direction. Haley nodded eagerly and filled her already empty mug with more coffee. She casually walked over to the living room forgetting that Travis was still asleep on it. "Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! My coffee!!!!" Haley wailed as she tripped over his arm and her mug flew out of her hands and landed smack dab on Travis' face. Haley started to fall forward onto the coffee table until a strong pair of arms grabbed her around the waist and stopped her falling. "You really need to watch where you're walking Haley," Charlie whispered into her ear.  
    "Ahhhhh, HOT!!!!!" Travis shouted as he leapt up from where he was sleeping and ran to the kitchen sink where he dumped his head into the dirty dishwashing water. "Uhh, Charlie you could let go of me now," Haley said uncertainly as she stepped away from his grasp and walked over to the kitchen to see if Travis was alright. Charlie sighed and walked over too. Amara just stood there laughing her head off at what had happened to Travis. "Hahaha, I think he gets the idea that we don't like him here huh??" Amara said as a fit of laughter escaped from her mouth again. "Whatever happened, I don't want to know," Jess said as he handed Haley her omelet. He glanced over at Travis who seemed to be trying to drown himself in the sink. Everyone else just looked away with laughter in their eyes when Jess looked around for answers on why Travis was doing what he was doing.  
        "How can someone sleep with all this racket??" Angela said sleepily as she padded out of her room with her fuzzy blue slippers on. She was wearing a sky blue baby tee with the word Angel in the center in sparkles and a pair of blue pajama bottoms with clouds all over it. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep out of her eyes. "Sorry, we had a slight accident," Haley apologized sheepishly. She pointed at Travis who was now inspecting his extremely red face on a skillet. "Slight accident??? You spilled coffee on him!!! Good coffee too!!! You could have at least spilled something else on him!!" Amara said with astonishment. Haley just hung her head and looked defeated. "I have failed you O' Mighty Coffee Master!!!! Please pardon my mistake!!" Haley said in a mocking tone to Amara. "Yeah, yeah, you better be sorry!!! You wasted perfectly good coffee on that slimeball!!! Perfectly good, hot coffee!!!!" Amara said angrily with a huff. "I said it was an ACCIDENT!!! Do I have to spell it out for you???" Haley said with a roll of her eyes. "You know I can't spell big words…anyway, at least it got him to shut up didn't it? I'm sure Jess will make more," Amara said with a grin, finally forgiving Haley. "Oh yeah…." Haley said. She then grinned and poured herself some more coffee. As soon as Travis saw her pour the coffee he ran to the guest bedroom, "Uhh…I should get ready for the day!"  
      Angela stood there watching the whole scene with a bemused smile. "Have you guys seen Brent??? Is he still asleep?" Angela asked everyone in the kitchen. "Oh yeah, he wanted me to tell you he wanted to run down and get the morning paper or something. I swear that guy gets older every second, next time he might want us to tuck our shirts in or something!!" Jess replied as he expertly whipped some eggs for another batch of omelets. "How do you cook like that?" Amara questioned him. "I spent a few months with my uncle who owned a diner and he made me help out a lot," was his quick reply. 'Arrgghh, why does she want to know about my past to much?' Jess thought angrily. Amara looked at him with concern, he seemed to be debating with himself. "I guess I should go get ready. Oh yeah, we need to do the laundry today girls," Angela said as she grabbed a bottle of orange juice and walked to her room.  
      Angela quickly showered and washed her hair as well as brushed her teeth and washed her face. 'Where is that goddamn hairdryer???' she thought to herself as she dug through her bathroom cabinets. There were towels and toiletries flying every which way. "Aha!!! Owww!!!" Angela said with delight but sudden pain as she hit her head on the cabinet door. She pulled out her hairdryer and quickly blow-dried her hair. She walked to her closet and started to flip through until she found a peasant blouse and a billowy skirt. After putting on her clothes she selected a pair of dangly bead earrings and a few leather bracelets and necklaces to complete her bohemian look. After applying some natural looking make up she put on a pair of comfortable leather sandals and pulled her hair up into a messy bun with a pair of Chinese take-out chopsticks.  
        "Oww!!! Why did you knock on my head?" Angela said angrily as she rubbed her forehead. Amara was knocking on the door and didn't notice that Angela had opened her door and ended up hitting Angela in the head. "Sorry…I didn't know you opened the door!" Amara said with a sheepish smile. She quickly drew back her hand and looked around nervously. "It's okay, I forgive you. What did you want anyway?" Angela said with a small smile. "I wanted to ask if I could borrow your shampoo. I ran out yesterday morning and I forgot to get some," Amara said. "Sure, but remember to return it!! Don't steal like you did last time you borrowed my shampoo!!" Angela said, she went back inside her room and fetched her bottle of Thermasilk shampoo. "Thanks!!! We're going down to the laundry-mat today right?? 'Cause I really need some clean clothes, I can't tell the difference anymore from clean to dirty," Amara said as she took the bottle from Angela. "It might be because you always throw your clothes on the floor with the clean and dirty clothes so you can't exactly tell the difference!" Angela called out Amara's back.   
        Amara walked over to her bedroom, but not before going through the kitchen to grab another cup of coffee. "Sheesh, don't you get sick of this stuff?" Jess grumbled as he poured her a cup. Amara just grinned and happily skipped back to her room. She made sure to lock her bedroom door knowing that one of the guys might decide to peek in on her or something. After a twenty-minute shower and washing of her hair, she brushed her teeth again and washed her face with her facial cleanser. She even blow-dried her hair in that time period. After finishing up in the bathroom she rummaged through her seemingly empty closet (most of the clothes were on the floor currently) and put on a pair of worn in flare jeans and a yellow tank top. She applied some tinted moisturizer to her face and some chapstick to her lips. Afterwards she pulled on her new pair of sneakers and jogged out the room with an empty coffee mug in hand.  
      "Travis!!!!!! Hurry up in the goddamn bathroom other people in this place need to use it too!!!!" Haley heard Charlie yell in the guestroom. She cautiously tiptoed over to the door of the bedroom and peeked in. Charlie was leaning against the door of the guest bathroom with a defeated yet annoyed look upon his face. He glanced up at her and grinned. "Think I can use your bathroom? I promise not to go through your girly things!!" Charlie said with a smirk as he pushed himself off the door and walked toward her. He circled her like a hawk before closing in and gently lifting her head up to face his with a finger. "I guess," Haley said hesitantly as she turned away from his touch.  
        Charlie grinned and walked off to grab some clothes. Haley sighed and decided to go grab another cup of coffee before he came looking for her. "Why did you wash the coffee pot? That thing has never been washed since the first day we moved in here last year!!!" Haley heard Amara screech. Amara was standing in the middle of the kitchen with a wooden spoon gripped tightly in her hands. She looked as if she was about to beat Jess with it. "Exactly, no wonder you girls act the way you do! That thing was filthy!!! You should be thanking me right now, I saved all of you from bad coffee!" Jess said laughingly. Haley giggled out loud causing the twosome to look in her direction with surprise. "You two sound like my parents!!" Haley said while she tried to stop herself from cracking up from the thought of Amara and Jess as her parents. "Haha, real funny!! If our coffee tastes strange to you, you know who to blame!!" Amara said with a glare toward Jess' direction. "Well in that case I guess there would be no more coffee for you for awhile then," Jess said with a gleam in his eye as he witnessed the priceless look of horror upon Haley and Amara's face. "Wait!!!!! Hayden can make us coffee!!!!" Amara said suddenly to Haley. "Umm…good idea, but Hayden kind of lives five blocks away from us!!" Haley said with a sad voice.  
      "Well, well, well!! Whatever shall you two do???" Jess said with a smirk playing at his lips. Haley and Amara continued to glare at him with their hands raised as if to form a claw. "Dude, I don't think you should mess with those girls and their coffee!!! I mean look what they both did to Travis!! I bet he's trying to drown himself in the shower so he won't have to deal with them anymore!" Charlie said with a smirk as he emerged from Haley's room. He was carrying what seemed to be his clothes under his arm in a small bundle. "What were you doing in my room might I ask?" Haley said suspiciously as she moved her glare to him. "I thought you would be waiting for me in your room!!" Charlie said innocently. Jess and Amara shared a look of disbelief and raised their eyebrows at Haley. "Aaack!!! It's not how it sounds!! He wanted to use my bathroom so he can take a shower!!! I was just going to show him how to work the shower," Haley said in defense mode. "And all this time I thought you wanted to join me!! The offer is still available by the way!!" Charlie said suggestively to Haley as he sauntered back to her room and shut the door. "Hey wait!!! Why are you closing the door to MY room?? You might be going through my drawers or something in there!!" Haley screeched as she flung open the door to her room. "No peeking Haley!!" Amara said with a giggle after Haley entered her room.  
       "You live with a couple of strange people. And all this time I thought I have seen the weirdest women in the whole wide world, I guess there is more of you out there," Jess said to Amara. He decided to make more coffee for the girls. He knew he would be sorry if he didn't anyway. "I know, what do you mean by other women? I didn't know you could actually associate with the other sex and all. Since you're so antisocial and all," Amara said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Oww that hurt! For your information, I do associate quite well with the other sex, just not you! You seem to get under my skin for some reason," Jess said to her with a serious tone. "Oh, sorry. I guess I am kinda annoying at times. But usually I'm much nicer than this, you get under my skin too I guess," Amara replied after thinking about what he said.  
      The tension between the two could have been cut with a knife. There was an uncomfortable silence between them as the sparks grew and grew in the air (not literally mind you, but hey it could happen!!). 'This feels exactly like it did with him…god I can't even say his name anymore, what kind of person am I? I loved Eli but now he's dead now and there is nothing I can do but move on with my life,' Amara thought to herself. She had been remembering him more and more since the time Jess came around.  
  
~~*A/N*~~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Flashback time baby!!! ^-^  
  
       _"Amara, you know that I love you!! I just can't make it to your first gig with your band!!" Eli said with a fustrated tone. Amara and him were sitting in front of the high school that both of them went to. Amara looked away, she didn't want him to see her cry. "Fine! Go to your stupid party with your friends! I see who is more important to you anyway. By the way, when you decide to grow up give me a call okay?" Amara said angrily as she ran into the school in a fit of tears. Eli just sat on the front stoop of the school and watched her run past her friends who were glaring at him for making her cry. He never meant to hurt her, he promised to go to that party along time ago so he couldn't exactly back out now. But then again, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Amara and she wanted to share it with him. He sighed and picked up his duffle bag and slowly walked to his beat up Jeep. He started to drive with a heavy heart toward his friend's house. 'Hey!!! Maybe if I leave a bit early from the party I can still make it to some of the gig here?? I'm sure that'll make her happy that I at least tried to make it for some of her performance!' he thought to himself as he drove toward the highway.  
       "Don't worry Amara, he'll make it to some of the show!! We all know he is madly and hopelessly in love with you! God knows why though!!" Haley said with a small smile as she glanced over at her worried friend who was pacing the room at an abnormally fast rate. "It's not that, I just think that I was too hard on him and stuff. He must think we're over or something!! God, I'm such an asshole!" Amara said angrily. She was mostly angry with herself and her stupidity, she always messed up the good things in her life. "Don't be so hard on yourself Amara, he knows you still love him. You were just hurt that's all!!" Angela said reassuringly to her troubled friend. Amara looked at her friends and took a long and deep breath and tried to calm down. Suddenly there was a knock at the door to their dressing room. "Who could that be? We're not good enough yet to have male groupies!!" Haley joked as she opened the door. The look upon the police officer's face made her smile drop instantly into a look of concern.  
       "Ma'am, are you Amara Pennington?" the police officer asked Haley who was staring at him with big wide eyes. "Huh? No. She's over there," Haley said as she pointed him to Amara's direction. Amara suddenly felt her whole body go cold as the police officer walked over to her with his hat in his hands. She knew something bad was going on, but she just didn't want to know what. "Miss Pennington? Do you happen to know a certain Eli Grant?" he asked her. As soon as she heard Eli's name she went icy cold. Slowly she nodded her head. "He was in an accident. His car slid on an ice patch near the bridge into town and his car crashed off the bridge and into the valley below. He didn't make it. I'm sorry, Miss," the police officer, said in a solemn voice. Amara just stood there, she felt as if someone had ripped out her heart and stepped on it. Eli was dead was all that ran through her head at that moment. She didn't even realize that the police officer had left and she was sitting down amongst her friends who were all crying. She hadn't even shed one tear since she heard the news, what kind of girlfriend was she? But all she could really think about was the fact that before he left he had told her he loved her and she didn't even say she loved him too. "Goodbye Eli, I love you too!!" she whispered into the air while tears of sorrow finally sprung from her eyes.   
  
         _"Haley??? You in there?" Angela whispered through the door of Haley's bedroom. Angela slowly cracked open the door and peeked in to find Haley sitting on her bed with her earphones on. Angela and Brent could hear strains of No Doubt's "Don't Speak" coming from the earphones. "Haley??" Brent hissed as he waved a hand in her face. "Huh? Oh hi!! I didn't hear you two come in, sorry," Haley, said as she glanced over at them and immediately pulled off her earphones. "Whose in your shower???" Angela inquired as she glanced over to the closed and locked bathroom door. "Would you believe me if I said Charlie is??" Haley said sheepishly. Suddenly her cell phone started to play Star Wars theme song. "Frankly I do believe he is in there, I think he took an interest in you Haley. And aren't you going to get that?" Brent replied to Haley who was rummaging through her purse hoping to find her cell-phone. "Arrrgghh, dammit!!! My cell is in the bathroom!!!!" Haley said with a shriek.  
       "Come on, it can't be that bad! Maybe Charlie would be nice enough to find it and answer it. He might even come out in a towel to give you the cell phone!" Angela said with a snicker. Haley did a double take and threw one of her many stuffed animals at Angela who was too slow to catch it so it bounced off her head. "I believe I heard my name being said in here," Charlie said as he sauntered out of the bathroom with her cell phone in hand. He was dressed (thank god…I don't think Haley could take it if a bit of him was exposed) in a pair of loose jeans and a red t-shirt and his hair was messy but still cute in his own special way. "Well whatever was said probably wasn't good," Haley retorted as she made a grab for the cell phone but Charlie lifted it out of her reach at the last minute so she had to fall into him. "Whoa, I knew you had a thing for me but in front of them?" Charlie said suggestively as he raised an eyebrow. Haley grimaced and smacked him hard on the shoulder.  
        "Whatever, who called?" Haley asked as she finally snatched the cell phone out of his hands. "Why it was your little puppy dog boyfriend, Hayden," Charlie said with a smirk. "Oh, and what did he say then?" Haley said with curiosity. By then Angela and Brent had gotten bored with the squabbles between Charlie and Haley and decided to go to Angela's room to do who knows what. "Well, he wanted to know where you were first of all and who the hell I was. And also why I have your cell phone with me in your bathroom while I am taking a shower. And oh yeah, he said he was coming over right this minute. I'm guessing he should be here by now judging by the sound of his voice," Charlie said with a big grin. "Oh okay, you should gather up your dirty clothes we are having a laundry day today," Haley said as she hurried out of her room with Charlie behind her.  
        "What are you in such a hurry for? It's not like we have something going on that we should be ashamed of," Charlie said as he blocked her path in the hallway. "Move!!" Haley said with an exasperated tone of voice. She tried to push past him but he unfortunately held fast and did not budge. Haley sighed and looked up into his eyes and said with defiance, "Nothing is going on with us. I don't know what you are thinking but nothing is going on between us." "Okay, okay. Sheesh, didn't have be so mean about it," Charlie said with raised hands as if in defeat. He let her pass and slowly followed her to the kitchen with a sigh.   
"What's the matter with you Charlie? You're not usual cocky self today," Brent asked Charlie as Charlie sat down heavily on the couch beside him. Charlie ignored him and put his head in his hands like a man who just lost everything important to him. "She must have really gotten you man!" Travis said as he plopped down on the floor in front of the couch. Amara and Jess had decided to leave for a long walk to calm down for a while so they no longer occupied the living room. "She gets to me, I tried to ignore her but it's impossible!!" Charlie said sadly. The other two guys just looked at each other with a knowing look of pure amusement. "Hey, look at it this way, at least you know you don't competition with me for a change! But instead him," Travis said jokingly as he gestured toward the door where Hayden stood.  
    "You just drank three cups of coffee in a role, what's wrong?" Angela asked Haley who was downing her fourth cup of coffee. Angela glared at Haley, who seemed to be ignoring her, with her hands on her hips and a frown upon her usually smiling lips. "Why all the long faces??" Hayden said cheerfully to the two girls in the kitchen. He was obviously oblivious to the conflict going on in there. "Hayden!!! When did you come in?" Haley said with a small smile. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her and place a soft kiss on her lips before pulling away to await his answer. "I came in a few minutes ago. Where is everyone?? I know the guys are in the living room but I don't see Amara and the Jess character anywhere," Hayden replied. He let go of Haley reluctantly and grabbed her cup of coffee and took a few quick sips. "Hey!!! I wasn't done with that!!! Give that back young man or suffer the consequences!!" Haley protested as she started to tickle him for taking her precious coffee. "I literally have no clue where Jess and Amara went off too. They should be back in a little while though, we have to go to the laundry-mat today to do laundry," Angela said.  
        "Well, in that case then shouldn't you be in your room gathering up your dirty clothes?" Hayden asked Haley with a raised eyebrow. "Why Hayden! Is that just an excuse to make out with me in my room?? You are soo scandalous!" Haley said with a girlish giggle as she tugged on his hand and dragged him to her room. She closed and locked the door behind her. "But I was honestly just suggesting that I help you gather up your dirty clothes!!" Hayden said with a smirk. Haley stared at him with an astonished expression upon her delicate face. When she saw the look of amusement on his face she scowled and threw a throw pillow at him. "Hey!!! I was just kidding around!" Hayden said with a grin as he deftly caught the pillow and threw it back on the bed. "Sure……" Haley said as she grinned back at him. She grabbed a large wicker basket from her closet and threw it at him. Hayden quickly caught it and gave her a puzzled look. "Well, you said you wanted to help me with my laundry!!" Haley said with an evil gleam in her eye. The two spent the rest of the hour gathering up dirty clothes and occasionally kissing and having pillow fights.  
        "Where are we going??" Amara suddenly asked out of the blue to Jess. They were walking through Central Park (which I might add is huge!!) at an unusually fast pace. "No clue, just felt that we needed some fresh air that's all," was Jess' clipped remark as he dragged her along at top speed. Amara struggled to keep up but she wasn't used to being pulled like that. "Huff…huff…can…we…stop…for a few…minutes??" Amara said breathlessly. She used up most of her energy to pull back on Jess' hand to make him stop. "Sorry, I just felt that I needed to get as far away from the apartment as possible and I assumed you wanted to get away too," Jess said sheepishly. He slowed down his pace and gently led her over to a nearby bench near one of the many fountains located in Central Park. "Thanks, the fresh air did help me calm down a lot," Amara said thankfully as she seated herself next to Jess on the bench. She shivered from the cold because in all the rush she had forgotten to grab her jacket before heading out the door. With the fast pace they were walking at she didn't feel the coldness until they had sat down for a rest. "Here," Jess said while he placed his leather bomber jacket over Amara's shoulders. He had realized she was cold when he glanced over at her on the bench and noticed she wasn't wearing a jacket but only a yellow tank top. "Thanks, I must have been really out of it to forget my jacket," Amara said with full gratitude as she pulled the jacket closer around herself. She could smell a faint cigarette scent on it mixed in with the unmistakable scent of brewed coffee.   
        "I think we should start heading back, the others might be wondering where we went off to," Jess said as he got up from the bench and offered his hand to help Amara up. Amara quietly accepted his hand and let her hand linger in his before finally letting go. "Can we stop somewhere for some hot coffee?" Amara asked as she strolled along with Jess beside her. She still had his jacket on her shoulders. "Didn't you get enough at the loft? You drank five cups in a roll!" Jess said with a bemused look. Her friends and her addiction to coffee reminded him of Lorelai and Rory back in Stars Hallow. 'I thought you said you didn't want to live in the past anymore!!' a voice inside him chided. Jess just tried to ignore the annoying voice that sounded very close to Luke's voice. "OoOoO!!! I went to this coffeeshop yesterday with Hayden and Haley!! They serve the best double chocolate fudge coffee cake here!! Let's go in!" Amara said excitedly when they passed by a quaint little coffee shop with bright cheerful curtains on its display windows.   
       "Sure, why not. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if we aren't around that much," Jess said with a grin. He allowed Amara to drag him inside the coffee shop with the force of at least three strong men. "Yay!!!! Come on, I want some of that delicious cake I smell!!" Amara said happily while she jumped up and down in anticipation. "Easy, don't get soo excited. People are staring at us funny!!" Jess hissed into Amara's ear as he helped her with his jacket. Many of the more elderly folks in the coffee shop glared disapprovingly at them, they must have thought that Amara and Jess were sharing phrases of affection. "I wonder what they are staring at…" Amara said cluelessly as she took a seat next to Jess. Their table was tucked in a tiny cozy corner near the back of the shop with a wraparound plush seat. Jess just looked at her like she was a complete idiot and then grinned at her in a way that caused more disapproving glances from the other customers. "What can I getcha???" one of the waitresses asked the twosome. The waitress stood there with one hand on a hip and chewing her gum like no tomorrow. "Two white chocolate mochas sound good to you?" Jess said to Amara who nodded and watched while the waitress took down the order. "Oh yeah!! And a double chocolate fudge coffee cake to share please!!" Amara said sweetly to the waitress and smirked at Jess as he looked at her in with surprise. Amara shrugged at him when their order came and dug into the cake.   
            "Okay folks!! Gather up your dirty laundry!! We are going to go down to Sunni's Sunshiny Laundromat in minus forty-five minutes!!!" Angela shouted throughout the whole apartment. "Minus forty-five minutes???" Travis said from the couch where he was sprawled over flipping through the TV channels trying to find something good to watch. "Sorry, I don't know what that means. I just thought it sounded good," Angela said sheepishly. She grabbed the remote from him and turned off the TV, "No more TV for you mister!!! No go gather your laundry!!" she said with a stern look. Travis obediently obeyed and slinked off toward the guest bedroom to do the task. "I like a girl that's bossy," Brent said seductively as he grabbed her from behind causing her to screech with laughter. "Geez, you people are a bunch of lunatics in here!!" Charlie said with a shake of his head as he walked out of the guest bedroom with a canvas bag filled with what seemed to be his laundry. He dropped his bag near the door and plopped down upon the couch and flipped to a channel where they were playing a Simpson's marathon. "Where is Jess and Amara????" Haley inquired as she walked out of her bedroom with Hayden behind her. Hayden stopped for a second to glance over at Charlie with a suspicious look. "No clue, they just went up and left us here," Charlie replied while giving an once-over to Hayden.

        "Well they should be back soon, they left an hour ago," Angela said reassuringly to Haley who looked out the window with concern for her best friend. "I don't know, they might have run off to Vegas by now. They looked pretty close when I walked in on them and their little crying fest. You should have seen the girl…crying buckets I tell you!!!!" Travis said with a smirk as he leered toward Haley who was looking up at him with an annoyed expression. "Buzz off man!!! Can't you see the girl is upset?" Charlie said as he shoved Travis away. Hayden gave a menacing glare at Charlie for the very boyfriend-like act and at Travis for hitting on his girlfriend. "I'm sure Amara wouldn't do that. She has enough sense to know how much that would affect the rest of us. Plus, they probably went out for coffee or something!" Haley said with a scoff at Travis as she also gave him the hairy eyeball. "Geez, you two are perfect for each other. You both don't know how to take a joke!" Travis said with a smirk as he sauntered out toward the balcony for a smoke.

        "Think we should head back now?" Jess asked for the second time that day. As much as he enjoyed spending time with Amara he knew it was too good to last long anyway. Plus, he also thought that her friends might be in a frenzy worrying about where they went of too. "Okay, I think today is laundry day. I seriously need some clean clothes because if I don't I might have to borrow from Haley and Angela," Amara replied as she handed the waitress the money and grabbed her coat. She cringed at the thought of having to wear a skirt or worse something in pink that Angela and Haley happened to own. Jess smirked at the thought of Amara in a frilly dress that one of the other girls had offered to lend her to wear. "What are you smirking at???  You better not be thinking of something perverted!!" Amara demanded suddenly after glancing up at him and seeing his smirk. "Wha???" Jess asked before he was interrupted with a loud exclamation (actually it was "You Perve!!!" said by Amara) from Amara who hit him with her coat and ran away giggling. Jess was left in the middle of the sidewalk watching the figure of Amara get smaller and smaller in the distance as the other people on the sidewalk glanced at him with disgust.  

        Jess glanced around with a sheepish and embarrassed grin. "She was just joking…go back to whatever you were doing," Jess said hurriedly as he ran after her in the direction of the loft. Jess finally caught up to Amara who was sitting on a stoop in front of the apartment building laughing her heart out. "You…should…gasp…have… seen…gasp…your…expression!!! It was…hilarious!!" Amara said breathlessly in a burst of giggles. "Real funny…" Jess said sarcastically but even he couldn't help but smile a little at the horrified expressions of the pedestrians that were walking by at that moment. "I knew it!!! You thought it was funny!!" Amara said happily as she saw his grin that was growing bigger by the second. "I never said that, you just assumed since I was smiling and all," Jess said trying to cover up his huge grin. "Whatever you say!! Come on, let's get to the loft and tell the others about what happened!!" Amara said while grabbing Jess' hand and lugging him upstairs toward the loft door. "Lucy, we're home!!!" Jess said in his best Ricky Ricardo impression. Six anxious heads turned toward the door with sour expressions. "Geez, what's wrong with you folks?? Did someone die, let's hope it was Travis!!" Amara said trying to break the tension. "You had us sooo worried!! We thought you two were kidnapped or something!" Haley said in a scolding tone. "Actually, we weren't so worried but Mommy here certainly was. You should have seen her; she was pacing around like a worried mother. It was hilarious!" Travis said jokingly. "Shut up!!" Hayden and Charlie both said at the same time to Travis. 

        "Sheesh, you two just need to chill. I mean I know Haley is hot and all but is she really worth it?" Travis said with a smirk. Hayden and Charlie just glared menacingly at Travis who decided to shut up before he got jumped by one of them. "So, why don't you two go gather your laundry and we head down to the Laundromat?" Angela said with a small smile. "Sure, I sure don't want to where one of those awful articles of clothing you two girls own," Amara said pointedly to Angela and Haley. "Like you could pull off one of our outfits!!" Haley said jokingly. She giggled and threw a throw pillow at Amara who dodged and the pillow landed smack dab in Angela's face. "Hey!!! No fair!!! I didn't say anything mean!" Angela said as she grabbed the pillow and threw it back at Haley who giggled again and ducked causing the pillow to hit Hayden who was sitting behind her. "PILLOW FIGHT!!!" Hayden shouted at the top of his lungs. Everyone except for Travis who slinked off somewhere rushed to grab pillows and started whacking the nearest person with it. "Hey, that's not fair!! Two against one!" Amara said in a midst of laughter while Jess and Angela pelted her with pillows. She tried desperately to fight back but soon gave up and tried cheating by grabbing Jess' legs and making him fall on the floor next to her. "Ahhh!!!!!!" Jess said as he crashed down on top of her. "Oommph, damn you're heavy!" Amara grunted out as she tried to detangle herself from Jess. "You were the bright one who thought of making me fall down!" Jess said as he tried to block himself from the pillow hits.

        Eventually the pillow fight started to calm down and everyone dispersed to his or her respective rooms except for Charlie and Jess who wandered outside on the balcony to get some fresh air. That is if you can call it fresh air since Travis was polluting the air with his cigarette smoke. "Cough…cough. Don't you think you should chill on all that smoking? At the rate your going you're going to die by the time you actually get laid," Jess said while he tried to make some of the smoke go away. Jess was known to smoke occasionally to relieve stress but what Travis was doing was just pure suicide. "That is if he ever does…" Charlie said with a smirk. Travis was known for having the worst luck in the world with women. He seemed to be too cocky and too arrogant. Plus, he hit on anything that was the opposite sex. "SHUT UP!!!" Travis said with a frown. Charlie just shook his head and looked out toward the amazing view. "Amazing isn't it?" Jess asked with a loud sigh of amazement. "Yeah, the view is incredible here," replied Charlie as he gazed transfixed at the view. "Dude, not the view!! I meant that billboard over there!" Jess said as he pointed over to the billboard advertising Starbuck's Coffee, "I mean I knew these girls liked their coffee but this is crazy!! A huge picture of it in perfect view??" Charlie glanced at the billboard and chuckled under his breath. He could just imagine the girls automatically buying the loft just because of the "coffee" view. "So you two think any of the girls are hot?" Travis asked out of the blue to the two guys standing next to him, "I personally think that Amara chick is totally hot." Jess glared at Travis for calling Amara a "chick". "That's incredibly disrespectful you know that?" Jess said with an edge. "Whatever, I knew you had a thing for her anyway. Now I bet I know who Charlie is hot for!!" Travis said with a sneer. "And who might you think that be?" Charlie asked with nonchalance. "Are you blatantly stupid?? You are so into Haley, which by the way I think is a major babe!" Travis said with a smug look. Charlie just continued to stare out at the city skyline, pretending he didn't hear a word that Travis said about Haley. So what if he liked her? She was totally unattainable, which made the chase and capture that much sweeter for him.

        The sliding glass door behind them suddenly slid open and to reveal a silhouette that looked strangely like Amara's. "HEY GIRLS!!!!! I FOUND CHARLIE AND JESS!!!!" Amara shouted into the loft before grinning at the three bewildered guys in front of her, "Oh yeah, I also found Travis even though no one was looking for him!" Amara smirked at Travis who just mumbled something under his breath that made Jess give him the hairy eyeball. The three guys quietly filed behind her back into the loft where everyone was putting on their jackets and shoes. "Damn, I forgot my quarters!!! I have to go back to my place, I'll meet you guys at the laundry place okay?" Hayden suddenly realized. He grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door but not before giving Haley a soft lingering kiss. "Gee, I wonder why he needs quarters for???" Charlie said with a snicker at some guy joke that made all of the girls give him a blank look. Haley eventually figured it out and smacked Charlie upside his head for the rude comment about her boyfriend to stop his snickering. "Okay, we should get going now," said Angela while dragging Brent out of the door behind her. The rest of the gang minus Hayden filed close behind the couple toward the parking lot. "So…who drives what?" Amara asked while struggling with her huge bag of dirty clothes. Jess calmly switched his bag for hers since hers was a much bigger load than his and Amara gave him a look of gratitude. "I'll take the Audi with Brent!!!" Angela said brightly, "You five can all go in the Escalade." "Uhh, no thanks. At that rate we won't get our laundry done until next Tuesday. You just want to make out somewhere with out us watching," Haley said with a smirk. Angela and Brent glared at Haley for stating the obvious. "How about Jess, Haley, Charlie, and me take the Escalade while you two with Travis take the Audi?? He can chaperone you two," Amara said with a sickly-sweet smile. Travis and Haley groaned at their predicament. Travis because he wasn't near Amara or Haley and he certainly couldn't hit on Angela; Brent would kill him. Haley groaned because she would be stuck with Charlie in the backseat (a potential make out area in case y'all didn't know). 

        "Well troops, you heard the lady!!!! Let's get cracking!!!" Jess said in a mock military voice. Amara gave him a scowl of disapproval; which only caused him to salute her and give her a huge grin. Angela and Brent slowly trudged over to the Audi with Travis, who was moving even slower, behind them. Haley reluctantly slid in next to Charlie who was giving her one of his usual satisfied smirks. "What are you so happy about???" Haley said finally to Charlie whose smirk slightly faltered at the annoyed tone of her voice. "Why it's not any day a lucky girl like you gets to be in the same backseat as I am in," Charlie said while leering at her. He was using his arrogance as his cover. Haley sighed loudly and turned away from him to face the window. "You're so arrogant it's not even funny. Men and their pride," Haley said finally which caused Charlie to smile slightly. He knew that she did have some attraction to him but was trying desperately to hide it. 'So this isn't just a one way feeling,' Charlie thought to himself with an air of satisfaction. Amara who noticed the strong tension in the air tried desperately to find some common ground between the quarreling pair in the back. "Does anyone want back there want to listen to some music??" Amara asked cheerfully. After waiting five minutes for them to respond; which they didn't by the way; she gave a huff of distaste and annoyance. "I don't think they're up to some music," Jess whispered into Amara's ear. He gave her a small smile to try to calm down her temper at the very immature people in the backseat. 

        After five minutes of hell for both cars they eventually arrived at their final destination. "Ahhh, fresh air finally!!!!" Brent said while stretching his arms a bit from the cramped space in the car. Travis was of course smoking again, you would think the guy would realize he would die one day because of all the chemicals but unfortunately he's a moron. "A little help from my boyfriend with the laundry bags would be nice Brent!!!!" Angela said while struggling with three laundry bags two of them which weren't even hers. "Oops, sorry sweetie. Didn't mean to forget you!!" Brent said with an apologetic grin. He effortlessly grabbed the top one and threw the second one at Travis since it was his anyway. "Ooofff, you didn't have to throw so hard you know? You could have bruised something!!!" Travis said with an extremely fake grimace of pain. "Yeah right, just admit you're a weakling so the rest of us can get on with our lives," Amara drawled out with a cruel smile. Travis just gave her a glare and stalked off toward the Laundromat. The outside was painted a bright sky blue with big puffy white clouds painted on it. There was a huge sign over the entrance on of the store that said Sunni's Sunshiny Laundromat in bright yellow letters with little happy suns surrounding the letters. "Kinda overkill with the whole sunny theme don't you think??" Jess muttered under his breath to Amara who just giggled in reply. The inside wasn't much better; it was painted a very bright shade of lime green that sort of blinded you if you looked at it too long and the washing machines were painted with a sunflower pattern that made you dizzy when you looked at it. "Now _this _is overkill," Amara whispered to Jess who firmly agreed with her.

        "Okay, let's get down to business!!! You go get us some change from that change machine over there!!!" Angela said in a bossy tone. She thrust a few five-dollar bills into Jess' hands and shoved him off toward the change machine. Jess stumbled a bit before gathering himself after the initial shock of sweet Angela being a total tyrant. "I'll go claim us some washing machines," Amara said while giving Angela a mock salute. Angela scowled and pointed Amara toward the nearest washing machines. "You two," Angela indicated Charlie and Haley with a glance before continuing, "You two are on sorting duty; whites, lights, and darks, please. And oh yeah, before I forget; Haley you sort the girl's bags and Charlie will sort the boy's bags. Don't want him to get any ideas." Haley grinned at Angela's last comment and trounced off toward the laundry bags and easily picking out hers and her friends'. Charlie hesitated and finally went off in the same direction as Haley did. "Is she related to Hitler or something??" Charlie asked Haley. Haley continued to sort the laundry into three carts before finally answering him. "She gets like that when she really needs clean clothes," Haley said with a quick smile. "Brent and I will be in charge of loading the dirty clothes inside the washing machines while you two," Angela nodded at Jess and Travis who were both lounging on the many rainbow colored couches in the place, "Will unload them and reload them into a dryer," Angela finished with a curt nod toward everyone. After everyone had digested the orders they all went off to do their tasks at hand. "Uhh…sorry to interrupt your flow of rhythm but what am I supposed to do now???" Amara asked hesitantly to Angela who was busy pouring equal amounts of cleaning solution into every one of the washing machines they were using. "Oh yeah, forgot about you. I want you to wait for Hayden and go with him to go pick up some things for us at the grocery store. There's a list in my purse that you can use," Angela said without batting an eyelash.

        Amara blinked a few times before the information sank into her. "Okay…I guess, but really shouldn't Haley go with Hayden to the grocery store??? I mean I could just fill in for her at the sorting table," Amara asked Angela who was now pouring equal amounts of fabric softener into each washing machine they were using. "Amara; let's think about this logically. If I let Haley go off with Hayden to the grocery store; who knows when they will come back???" Angela said with a raised eyebrow, "Besides, I recall last time when I put you on sorting duty and most of our whites turned pink." Amara blushed at the embarrassing moment just a few months ago when she accidentally put a red sock into the whites pile. "It wasn't really my fault!!! If you weren't distracting me with questions about fabric softener I would have paid more attention to what I was doing," Amara said trying to gain control of the argument. "True, true," Angela agreed and bustled away to stalk Jess for the change for the washing and drying machines. 

Amara decided to wait by the door for Hayden to come in so she can drag him off to the shopping before he got sidetracked by the image of Haley and Charlie; so close together sorting dirty laundry together. She giggled at the thought of Hayden fuming about Haley cheating with Charlie over a pile of underwear. The image was so hilarious she couldn't help but burst out laughing which caused Haley and Charlie to look over with surprise and Jess look over with concern thinking she had finally lost her marbles. Finally Hayden's car came into view and parked near the front of the Laundromat. "Hey Amara, why are you guarding the door like that??? Is some criminal going to come in or something?" Hayden asked her with a warm smile. "Nope, just waiting for you to come in," Amara said with an equally warm smile. "Gonna kidnap me are you??? Just let me drop off my clothes and the change to Angela and we can be on our way," Hayden said catching on the act. He casually walked over to where Angela was standing near Haley and Charlie. "Hey Hayden, finally decide to show up are we??? You're lucky we haven't started the boys' wash yet, just hand your bag to Charlie," Angela said after finally noticing Hayden who was staring at Haley and Charlie next to each other. "Sure," he finally said and dropped his bag near Charlie and handed the extra quarters to Angela who immediately sorted them out into neat little piles. 

"Hayden!!! I was wondering when you would show up!!!" Haley said with surprise as she dropped the pizza stained t-shirt into the correct pile and ran toward Hayden. She jumped up onto her tippy-toes to give him a quick kiss before he could respond. "Hey Haley," he said quietly which caused her happy smile to falter a bit before quickly recovering. "What's wrong???" Haley asked with a concerned expression. Hayden looked deeply into Haley's eyes and knew that she was absolutely clueless to what was happening all around her. "Nothing, nothings wrong. I was just drifting off," Hayden said with a reassuring smile he gently placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "Sorry to interrupt your little love fest but some of need you to get back to work!!!" Angela said in a scolding tone. Her hands were at her hips in a disapproving stance but inside she was gushing at how sweet those two really were to each other. "Yeah, I have to kidnap you remember?? So come on before the others realize you're gone!!!" Amara said with a mischievous grin upon her face. "What is this I hear about my best friend kidnapping my boyfriend??? Some of us will miss him!!!! Why don't you kidnap Travis, at least no one will miss him unless you count his mommy," Haley said with a giggle. "Well, I see you still want me around," Charlie spoke out from the piles of dirty clothes he was still sorting; the boys obviously didn't do their laundry often. "Oh no, Haley just wanted to leave someone as her personal coffee-boy," Amara said sweetly in Charlie's direction who gave her a strained smile, "Since Travis is going to be my human punching bag. Or I could just sell him on the black market, otherwise known as E-bay!!!"

"Come on, we better get going before Hitler over there decides to stuff us into the washing machine," Hayden said to Amara who was glancing evilly at Travis. Travis' response was of pure and utter confusion, he was probably thinking that Amara had the hots for him (as if that's likely) or something. Haley and Angela and gone back to what they were doing and left the two friends to fend for themselves. "Yeah, we better leave before Travis over there starts getting into his puny little head of his that I actually have something for him," Amara agreed before waving exaggeratedly at Haley and Charlie who glanced at her like she was a maniac. "Well, it seems quite obvious who you like in that little band of theirs," Hayden said with a raised eyebrow as he led across the street to the grocery store named Sailor Yumyum's. Supposedly the owner was a huge fan of Sailor Moon and just had to dedicate his grocery store to her. The whole inside of the store was what seemed to be a large memorabilia of Sailor Moon stuff. "Why do I feel like a geek whenever I go into this store????" Hayden asked Amara in a low whisper. He didn't want to attract any attention from the cashier who was dressed up to look like Sailor Venus. "Maybe because you were one to begin with???" Amara said with a giggle. She waved at the Sailor Mercury-like dressed girl who was restocking a self with cans full of beans. "Hey!!! I resent that!!!!!" Hayden said with an angry scowl as he grabbed a shopping cart and they started to walk down the aisles meeting many Sailor Moon characters along the way. Finally after thirty minutes of breathless laughter at the strangely accurate costumes the employees were forced to wear they had gotten everything on their list that Angela gave them. "Shaving cream??? Why the hell do we need shaving cream??? Its not like any of us have grown beards lately," Amara said as she picked up the last item on the list and put it into the cart. "Uhh, I think it's for the guys," Hayden said with an amused expression of Amara naïve way of thinking. "Oh, okay…" Amara said after pondering his answer she finally accepted it as a logical reason. 

"We're back!!!!!!" Amara said loudly and quite proudly to the ten something people in the Laundromat; six of them she actually knew. "Good to know you freak!!!!" a bored looking teenager with a ridiculous amount of piercings on her body. Amara glared at the rude girl and was about to give her a piece of her mind before Haley who was greeting Hayden at the moment with a shower of sweet kisses grabbed her arm. "No way are you going near that girl. She's soooo not worth it," Haley said calmly and quietly, "Come on, let's go join the others!!!!" Amara reluctantly agreed but not before she gave the little brat an evil glare that made the younger girl look away fearfully. Haley happily led Amara over toward where the rest of the group was gathered. Hayden being the nice guy that he was had already put the groceries in the girls car while Haley was calming Amara's temper down. Amara sat next to Jess who was on one of the couches that was facing each other around a table. Haley of course had no choice but to sit next to Charlie who was sitting on the other couch since there was obviously no room next to Hayden. Hayden immediately stood up and sat down next to Haley on the couch as well. Charlie gave Hayden an amused look. "Not very trusting are we???" he said with a slight edge at Hayden. Haley who was stuck between the two was feeling pretty uncomfortable owing the fact that Amara was singing an annoying jingle. "I'm squeezed in the middle!!! Smack DAB in the middle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Amara sang loudly in a sing-songy voice. Haley glared at Amara angrily and shifted uncomfortably in her position. 'This is gonna be a long sixty minutes…' she thought to herself as she glanced over at Charlie and then at Hayden. 


End file.
